San Jose council allows plan for seven story, mixed-use building to advance

The San Jose City Council has rezoned a 1.7-acre parcel near the heart of the city's transit core so plans for a $50 million mixed-use development can advance.

By rezoning the property at 138 Stockton Ave. from commercial to planned development at its Feb. 23 meeting, the council allowed developer Hudson Companies to construct a seven-story building with 164 market-rate apartment units and 37,5000 square feet of commercial space less than half a mile from the Diridon Station.

To clear the property for development, Hudson intends to raze two buildings that have been designated as structures of merit in the city's Historic Resources Inventory.

When the proposed development was presented at a community meeting last fall, a local housing advocate complained about the lack of affordable units.

But no one objected to the project at last week's council meeting, although Hudson Properties was required to establish a curbside loading zone for commercial and residential use.

Rezoning could encourage more private investments in similar mixed-use projects that are consistent with the Diridon Station Area Plan, where housing density of 95 units per acre is required, according to a memo from Mayor Sam Liccardo and council members Raul Peralez and Pierluigi Oliverio.